


A Tale of Shadow and Light - Book 1: Awakening

by ren_no_kai



Series: A Tale of Shadow and Light [1]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Historical, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Falling In Love, Fantasy, Feudalism, Historical Fantasy, Japanese Culture, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, M/M, Political Alliances, Romance, Samurai, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:28:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25121659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ren_no_kai/pseuds/ren_no_kai
Summary: Ren no Kai is the leader of the Knights of Ren and one of the Shōgun’s hand-picked retainers, a peerless warrior and a prodigy of the Way. His grandfather was the first Shōgun, and one day, he will hold that title himself, but he was abandoned by his family and has always felt alone.Rei is a scavenger, a nobody from the backwater Jyakku province who can barely scrape by with a little bit of luck. Sometimes, she can see and hear strange things—things that other people can’t, or that aren’t really there. Waiting for her family to come back to her, she lives alone.When Kai and Rei cross paths, they realize perhaps it was each other they had been missing all along. Rei is the Shadow to Kai's Light, the Moon to his Sun, the Yielding to his Strength. But will they be able to find balance as civil war consumes the land?Star Wars returns to its roots of Akira Kurosawa's Hidden Fortress. An AU retelling of The Force Awakens in a fantastical Feudal Japan setting. Featuring Reylo, Stormpilot, and canon divergence.
Relationships: Kylo Ren & Rey, Kylo Ren/Rey, Poe Dameron/Finn
Series: A Tale of Shadow and Light [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1819765
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14





	1. The Shogunate's Forces Approach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One of the Knights of Ren travels to a remote village in Jyakku province in search of the wandering monk Tekka, who possesses a clue to the whereabouts of Master Skywalker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This retelling of Star Wars: Episode VII is heavily inspired by the works of Akira Kurosawa and Eiji Yoshikawa. It isn't pinned down to a specific period of Japanese history, so you may encounter allusions to everything from The Tale of the Heike, the Warring States period (Sengoku Jidai), and the rise of the Tokugawa shogunate. This work is not striving for strict historical accuracy, and I chose to eschew honorifics as well as most foreign language terms in order to avoid inaccuracies and increase accessibility.

_Mukashi, mukashi…_

A long time ago…

Master Shōden no Suke, abbot of Skywalker Temple, has fled the capital as a fugitive. The Shōgun’s forces pursue him across the countryside, torching villages in their wake.

Many provincial lords still resist the Shōgun’s rule. Lady Ogana no Reiya of the Eastern Clans is desperate to find her brother Suke and gain his help in restoring peace and justice to the realm.

Lady Ogana has sent her most daring captain on a secret mission to Jyakku Province, where an old ally holds a clue to Suke’s whereabouts…

# Chapter 1

The shrill cry of cicadas rose and fell with the wind. Four mounted warriors clad in heavy armor emerged from the pine forest, almost invisible in the moonless night. Behind them, the Shōgun’s forces moved into position.

Scattered braziers and campfires lit the pitiable village below them. Nestled in the valley where two streams converged, it boasted no walls, no barricades, and certainly no watchtower. The provincial lord had deemed it unimportant, unworthy of defending. That, or the rebel had spread his forces too thinly to spare even a bare-bones guard.

Regardless, any villagers of fighting age and capability would have been conscripted to fight. All who remained in these meager dwellings were the young, the old, and the infirm. Even if they had been able to scavenge any weapons from the nearby killing fields, it would do them no good. It would be a simple matter to ride in and slaughter them all and claim the village in the name of the Shōgun.

Yet that was not why they had come, and there was a chance the village wasn’t guilty of harboring a fugitive.

It was time to test the worth of their informant’s word. If Gyozo thought he could cheat the government out of its coin, he would not live much longer to regret it.

“Surround the village,” Ren no Kai ordered. “Ensure no one escapes.”

“Understood, commander!” came his lieutenant’s eager reply, and the man dashed off to relay his orders to the rest of the foot soldiers.

“We almost have him within our grasp, now, young lord,” said the warrior clad in the silver-gray armor of the Kasutama clan. The pale horse beneath her whinnied and stamped her feet, echoing the rider’s anticipation.

Kai didn’t nod, but simply looked out over the valley below. It was pitiable, but also peaceful. Like the villages he had visited in his childhood, where he’d begged for alms and meals alongside his uncle before they ventured into the mountains for training. More often than not, those villagers had been kind to them, even if pilgrims were a burden. When the harvests had been good, some would even sneak him sweet bean cakes when his uncle wasn’t looking.

He could feel his brows softening. _No, remain focused on your duty_ , he chided himself. At least the captain couldn’t see Kai’s expression beneath his black face mask and helmet. “Almost,” he agreed. But not yet.

He could not fail now, not when he was so close. Once he’d found the hiding place where Shōden no Suke had scurried to, he and his Knights of Ren would confront and capture the heretical abbot. Once captured, Suke would be returned to the capital for his trial and execution. The Bureau of Moon and Sun would exterminate Suke’s sect of falsehoods once and for all. Then it would be a simple matter to hunt down the remaining heretics, but so long as their master was still alive, the warrior monks would continue to thwart the government and foment rebellion in the countryside.

Once he succeeded in finding Suke, Kai would finally prove himself to the Shōgun and the Grand Diviner. He would cement his role as heir to the shogunate.

On either side of them, the foot soldiers fanned out in a wide arc, scampering down the hillside with spears at the ready. The gunmen were already in position, taking cover at the tree line and aiming their muskets at the village.

 _It is time. Your destiny is at hand_ , came the ghost’s voice, sending a shiver down Kai’s spine.

 _I know_ , Kai answered silently. _I will not fail._ “If any villagers flee or offer resistance, teach them a lesson.”

“What if one of the runaways is our quarry?” Captain Kasutama asked, stringing her bow.

“He won’t be,” Kai said without a trace of doubt in his voice. He was done talking.

He urged his horse forward and down the hillside. The other mounted warriors followed close behind in silence, the hoofbeats of their charge rising like terrible thunder.

They might not have had a watchtower, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have someone on watch. A shout went up from the village, a warning bell was rung. But it was too late. Four of the Shōgun’s most fearsome knights were already upon them.

The cries of a panicked village went up into the night. The peasants scattered like insects under an upturned log. Between their shrieks of despair came the soft plucking of bowstrings, and the sputter of arrows piercing flesh. Not long after that, gunshots rang out. Villagers faltered, and fell.

Kai galloped straight into the heart of the village. He had not bothered to draw his blades or string his bow, but the peasants cowered before him anyway. Some stood, frozen in fear, while others scrambled to retreat to their homes. Eyes wide with terror, a few peeked their heads out from behind straw curtains.

Their gaunt skin stretched too taut over their cheekbones. Several successive wars had not treated this village well. At long last, the realm would know peace and stability once again.

All he had to do was find Tekka among this rabble.

He did not look with his eyes, but instead opened up his other senses. This close, it would be easy to detect the life force of someone who had spent decades cultivating their strength. _There_. Kai turned his horse around to face the mountain hermit.

“Enough!” came a tremulous voice. “I know it is me you’ve come for.” Emerging from a simple hut was an old man, his sacred robes faded and tattered.

The other knights spotted the exchange and gave up their slaughter. They formed a ring around Kai and his quarry.

Captain Kasutama leveled an arrow at the hermit. The old man walked calmly toward Kai, heedless of the danger all around him. Defiance blazed in Tekka’s eyes

“You’ve grown frail,” Kai said. As a child, it had been easy to look up to this man who had seemed strong and wise. Now, Kai was old enough to know wisdom from folly.

“Such is the natural course of life,” the man acknowledged. “But you, young lord…”

Kai cut him off. “You know what I seek.” He dismounted, dust rising around his greaves. He waited.

The old man simply picked up where he’d trailed off. “You walk unnatural paths. You’ve lost your way.”

“Tell me where the abbot is hiding,” Kai demanded.

Around him, bow strings tightened, ready to loose a deadly volley of arrows at his command.

“At ease,” Kai said, raising a hand in warning. The mounted warriors obeyed. “Tekka knows that we would not kill him. He knows that the secret he hides is too precious. But the villagers… can he bear to be the source of their suffering?”

“Their pain will not be laid to rest at _my_ feet,” Tekka said, his voice rising, quavering. “It will be _you_ to bear those sins.”

Yet the suffering of these villagers paled next to the fate of the realm. It would be impossible to end this war without more deaths. A soldier had to make peace with this—as would a leader.

The ghost’s voice echoed in his mind. _Your will bear the cost of this war so that future generations might be spared. When you become Shōgun, the lords of the four directions will rightly fear and respect you, as they did your grandfather. None will dare rise against you._

“Impudent fool!” Captain Kasutama spat. “Let me teach him a lesson!”

“But it is not only _your_ soul that is stained… with every atrocity, you leave a new mark on your family’s good name.”

Tekka was wrong. His father was clanless, and the Ogana family had only brought chaos to this realm. They and their vassals hid their ambitions behind a veneer of righteousness. They were no better than the lords they denounced. Their refusal to swear allegiance to the Shōgun was prideful folly.

Tekka spoke once again. “It is not too late to turn away from this path, to atone…”

But it was his mother who turned away from _him_ , as did his father, and Master Shōden after that. They wanted to be rid of the haunted boy, and so they discarded him, made him his uncle’s problem. And then, when he could still hear the ghost even after years of training, after countless exorcisms, his own uncle had decided that he was too tainted—too dangerous—to be allowed to live.

“I’ll help _you_ atone!” Kai shouted. Before he could stop himself, he’d unsheathed his sword and brought the blade down in one swift motion.

Blood spurted from the stump of the old man’s arm as he cried out in pain. Dark blood dripped down the length of red steel, leaving dark splotches in the dry earth.

Kai took a deep breath to bring himself back to the present, away from the nightmares of his past. “Now, try again,” he said gently, but the threat behind his soft tone was clear. Tekka would pay for his continued defiance.

The old man did not so much as whimper, but he fell to his knees, shoulders trembling, as he tried in vain to stanch the blood.

“Tell me where the abbot is hiding,” Kai commanded, his voice even.

Tekka looked up, the defiance burning only more brightly now. Several moments passed in silence. He’d given his answer.

Kai took another deep breath. It would not do to strike the man down here and now. Kai could not forget his duty to the Shōgun. “We’ll bring him with us,” he announced to the others, flicking the remaining blood from his sword before sheathing it. “A few days in our war camp should change his mind and loosen his tongue.”

One of the warriors dismounted, carrying a length of rope. The monk offered no resistance as the warrior tied him up.

“And the villagers?” Captain Kasutama asked expectantly.

Kai pulled himself back into his saddle and looked around. These villagers had harbored and gave succor to a member of the radical sect who defied the Shōgun’s rule and the authority of the Grand Diviner. The punishment for such a crime was death.

“Kill them all.”

“As you command, my lord.”

The foot soldiers advanced, spears drawn, entering the houses. Flames leapt from the thatched rooves, and screams filled the night once more.

Ren no Kai turned away from the heat of the blaze and galloped back toward camp. Fire was the element of creative destruction. It offered a chance to start over, to start anew. And it was fire that burned in his heart as his final victory drew near.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've used a mixture of translation and phonetic approximations when translating character names into Japanese, but I may have made mistakes.
> 
> In Japan, family names come first, so Leia Organa would be Organa Leia. When adapting her name to Japanese, "l" becomes "r," and so I ended up with Ogana no Reiya. The particle "no" is used to show possession and is often used in archaic samurai names to denote belonging to a family or clan. For those interested in the kanji, I chose 尾加名の伶也.
> 
> For Shōden no Suke, I chose the characters for "sky" and "way"/"tradition" for his family name (霄伝), and then adapted "Luke" into the more common Japanese given name "Suke" (助), which translates to "assistance" or "help."
> 
> Kylo Ren becomes Ren no Kai, i.e. "Kai of the Ren," alluding to his leadership of the Knights of Ren. The kanji would be 連の改. "Ren" translates pretty directly to "party" or "gang," so Knights of Ren becomes somewhat repetitive, but I thought it best to retain the source material's name for them. The kanji I chose for "Kai" means "revision," which seems apt for someone looking to rewrite the past.
> 
> For Captain Phasma, I translated "Phasma" as "phantasm," or "ghost." Kasutama is another reading of the characters for yūrei (幽霊), or ghost.
> 
> Lor San Tekka was shortened to simply Tekka.
> 
> The title of Shōgun translates roughly to "army general." I've chosen to keep the term Shōgun, as it is fairly recognizable to an English audience and more evocative than "army general."


	2. The Village Raid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Chapter 2, the foot soldiers are tasked with eliminating the villagers who had sheltered the wandering monk Tekka. Captain Kasutama presides over the slaughter, which proves to be too much for a certain infantryman. A chance encounter will change the course of his life forever.

# Chapter 2

“There’s no one left in this hovel!” Lieutenant Samon shouted. “Check the next one.”

The hoofbeats of galloping horses faded. The foot soldiers were left to finish their grim task, supervised by their lieutenant and the knight who took the most pleasure in butchery.

The infantryman who called himself Kino Tokirō made a show of nodding and continued his round through the village, gripping his spear in his right hand so tightly that he feared it might splinter. He needed to blend in. While gaining the attention of a knight could propel a soldier’s career—better to be a sandal bearer than cannon fodder—gaining the attention of the Phantom, as she was known, was rarely a good thing.

“Burn it down! We’ll catch them as they flee!” she commanded. One by one, his fellow foot soldiers cast their torches onto the thatched rooves.

Tokirō watched in horror as the flames sped across the thatch. An orange glow washed over what had been the darkened paths between the buildings. Soon, the whole village burned. Embers and smoke rose up to the starry night sky, while villagers—whole families—fell to the ground, their blood turning the dirt paths to mud.

Tokirō still carried his torch; his left arm wouldn’t move. His belly churned. He cast a quick glance around—the Phantom had disappeared, the lieutenant nowhere in sight—and tossed his torch into a nearby woodpile. He couldn’t bring himself to carry out the knights’ orders. Instead, he rushed about, looking busy, and pointedly avoiding entering any of the houses.

As he wandered the village, the flames made the hot summer night unbearable. Sweat beaded across his brow and drenched the tunic under his hardened leather armor. He could barely breathe.

The village, which had smelled of thatch and pine needles before the stench of smoke overtook it, was too familiar. He’d grown up in a village like this. These women and girls could have been his sisters or nieces. Now, he’d never know. He’d signed up to seek his fortune on the battlefield, not to slaughter defenseless civilians.

Though his spear tip was clean, he had done nothing to stop the slaughter. Could do nothing. These villagers would still die by the hands of the men and women Tokirō shared meals with. Before the night was done, they’d be back to sitting around their bedrolls, tending each other’s wounds and telling scary stories to keep the actual horrors of war at bay. Even when members of their company fell, so long as the Shōgun kept paying, there would be a steady stream of new recruits eager to take the place of the fallen.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tokirō saw the Phantom presiding over the destruction from her tall horse, its coat as white as funerary robes. The light of the flames reflected off her polished armor. Perhaps she noticed his flailing, his hesitancy.

Perhaps one of the arrows she’d strung was for him.

He turned a corner around a building, catching his breath. He told himself he wasn’t hiding. The water blearing his vision was just from the smoke.

When he blinked the tears away, he saw movement in the bushes. He lowered his spear, breath quickening.

A few paces away, a brushwood dog waited, watching. Mud stained the white fur of its chest and paws, but otherwise its reddish coat gleamed in the firelight. A hunter’s companion, perhaps.

Or rather, he’d been a hunter’s companion. The dog’s master was surely dead, or dying—if not here, then on some far-away battlefield.

Now the dog was all alone. There was no were else for him to go.

Tokirō approached the dog slowly. “Here boy,” he said, clicking his tongue.

He might not be able to feed the dog properly with his meager rations, but the creature would be a welcome companion, a respite from the scorching, day-long marches and the sleepless, mosquito-filled nights. Perhaps some of the other soldiers would also help feed the dog their scraps.

“What are you doing here, little guy?” he asked, kneeling down. He set his spear on the ground and reached out a hand.

The dog whimpered, unsure of whether to trust him. Tokirō couldn’t blame the beast. He was smart to fear strangers, especially amid such carnage.

Slowly, the dog placed one paw forward, then another, padding closer to the soldier.

As it came into the light, Tokirō could make out a collar of some kind—and something else. Partially hidden by the dog’s fur, attached to the collar, was a small cylinder. _A miniature scroll case?_ _But who…_ _why…?_

Behind him, someone screamed, and the dog bolted.

At the same time, an arrow whizzed by Tokirō’s head, plunging into the ground where the dog had just stood.

He jumped to his feet and whipped his head around to see the attacker.

The Phantom lowered her bow. “Right quick bastard,” she muttered under her breath.

The dog had disappeared into the underbrush.

The captain turned back to observe the rest of the chaos. She’d only taken the shot for sport.

That was close. Too close. He had to be more careful.

“You there! What are you doing?” Lieutenant Samon’s voice snapped Tokirō back to the present. “Why are you just standing around like that, fool!”

“I, uh…” he stammered, caught completely off guard.

“Finish checking out that house, and then we’re out of here!”

“Yessir!” he recovered. He forced himself to investigate the burning house he’d been taking refuge behind, hoping—praying—that it would be empty.

Its occupants had already collapsed, motionless on the floor. They weren’t breathing. Someone else had gotten to them first. Tokirō was spared the burden, but the deed had been done regardless.

He couldn’t take it anymore. The next chance he got, he would desert. This wasn’t worth it, pay or no. He would travel the land. He would find the village he’d grown up in. And maybe, he’d find a family waiting.

He spared one last glance for any trace of the dog, but there was nothing there. It had vanished into the night.

 _Dog-spirits look after you, little one,_ Tokirō prayed silently. He made sure to dry his eyes before he caught up with the rest of the retreating soldiers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lieutenant Samon is a reference to a famous ashigaru-turned-samurai who was a retained to Satake Yoshinobu. Perhaps we haven't seen the last of Lieutenant Samon, who doesn't have a direct parallel to a character in The Force Awakens.
> 
> FN-2187, aka Finn, was a tough one to transliterate. Instead, I gave him a name in homage to a famous general from the Warring States period who rose from his peasant upbringing to become one of the "Three Unifiers" of Japan.
> 
> As we see here, the foot soldiers have a special way to refer to Captain Kasutama: simply, the Phantom. I wanted to illustrate the gap between the classes, as well as the fear with which the foot soldiers regard her.
> 
> Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't include the inspiration for the brushwood dog: https://nikolasdraperivey.tumblr.com/post/137292464400/feudal-star-wars-here-are-some-samurai-inspired
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the second chapter!


	3. Rei

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As signs of battle rise on the horizon of Jyakku province, an unsuspecting, solitary scavenger finds something she'd hadn't bargained for.

The old lady was no seer, but she’d offered a grave prediction when last Rei had gone into town: “Once again, war will descend upon the Western Reaches like a storm, only it will rain arrows and cannon fire will be its thunder.”

A week ago, Rei had dismissed her words. Despite the rumors of clashes to the east, Niimachi and the secluded valley she’d known for most her life had, so far, been spared.

But this morning, just beyond the southern ridge, pillars of smoke rose from the plains of Jyakku once more.

Signs of a battle.

That meant a fresh haul for the scavenger. In trade, Boss Uenka might give her enough to fill her belly for weeks. That is, if she was lucky—and if she didn’t lose her head in the process. The penalty for looting was death, but that didn’t stop opportunists and outcasts like her.

This far up the hillside, the battlefield seemed close, but the same treacherous paths that protected the valley made it difficult to descend as well. She had to hurry. Others like her would be converging on the battlefield soon. She could only hope to beat them to the choicest pickings.

Rei rushed down the hillside along the deer path, turning branches aside with her staff. Cuckoos scattered from the trees ahead of her, alighting into the sky.

She just needed to take care of herself for a little while longer.

As she reached the edge of the tree line, she raised a hand to shield her eyes from the brightness of the morning. Her tattered grey robes, cobbled together from scraps the townsfolk thought weren’t worth mending, fluttered in a warm breeze.

With the spring planting over, her parents would come back to the valley to get her any day now.

Or maybe they were never coming back. She’d grown from a child into a young woman in the years since they’d left her behind. Maybe they had been killed on a battlefield like this one. As she scanned the horizon, dark birds circled above the battlefield, sending a shiver down her spine.

 _Don’t give up_ , she told herself. There was still hope. She refused to believe that her parents had turned their backs on her forever. One day, she would find her family again. Until then, she had to keep going.

The shrill song of the cicadas faded as she left the forest behind. She slung her staff across her back and lowered herself down the rock face. Her fingers and sandaled feet found purchase easily, and she lowered herself to the bottom with the help of some exposed roots.

She stayed crouched, darting to the bushes. Her three tight hair buns mostly stayed put despite the twigs and branches clawing at her. She waited a moment, straining her ears for any distant gunfire, but heard only the cawing of crows.

Once again, she scanned the path ahead, careful to spot any signs of movement. Other than the carrion birds and the grass billowing in the breeze, there were none. Yet a hill rose on her left, and someone could be hiding in the forest that lined the plains. She’d still have to be on her guard.

She emerged from the bushes and dashed down to the battlefield. This close, the wind was heavy with the stench of rot. Rei couldn’t be sure whether she heard the moans of the dying, or if that was just the sigh of the wind through grass.

She had a bad feeling about this, but what other choice did she have? The villagers were wary of outsiders, and they had enough troubles of their own without inviting in a wild child’s. The few times she’d tried hiring herself out as a farmhand or household servant, the pay wasn’t worth the berating—she’d never learned to cook or clean or sew or do laundry properly. Better to live off the land and take her chances. She’d fallen in with Uenka’s gang after a time, although she certainly wouldn’t call those bastards her friends.

Flies buzzed away as she turned the first body with her staff. A gunshot wound had blown a deep gash in the man’s side. She checked his boots, belt, and collar for any trinkets or, better yet, coin. Nothing. It was possible that the victors had already beaten her to the spoils.

She moved on to the next one, and the next. Most of the armor had already been stripped from the bodies, for how else was a farmer-turned-foot soldier supposed to protect themself? Broken spears and other weapons littered the ground, but the metal would be too heavy to bring back in any meaningful quantity, and too obvious as to their provenance. Boss Uenka’s operation was too primitive to melt down old steel into anything useful—for now, at least.

Behind her, she thought she heard the hiss of a short blade being drawn from its sheath. She whirled around, raising her staff in defense, only to be confronted by the emptiness of the wind.

There had been times before that she’d seen and heard strange things—things that other people couldn’t, or that weren’t really there. Those times seemed to be increasing in frequency. She chalked it up to her restlessness as the days grew longer. Her mind was playing tricks on her, trying to occupy itself.

But just then, in the gleam of the morning light, she spotted a steel dagger, partially hidden in the grass. It was only half unsheathed, perhaps drawn in desperation.

She slung her staff back over her shoulder and knelt down.

The unfortunate owner stared up at the sky, unblinking. She was a fallen knight—the real prize of the battlefield. “Thank you,” Rei said quietly, stuffing the dagger in her belt before offering a curt bow. The sound of her own voice was strange. “May your spirit be at peace.” The last thing she needed right now was the attention of a knight’s hungry ghost.

After reciting the prayer, she dug through the woman’s clothes for anything else of value. Rei’s fingers felt something round in the seam of an inner garment. The dagger easily cut through the cloth, revealing a large silver coin. Perhaps it was meant to be a lucky charm of some kind—the flowing script on one side was unfamiliar to her, but the other side depicted a dragon. Rei quickly pocketed it. She could use all the luck she could get.

A horse whinnied in the distance. The sound came from the forest she’d warned herself about.

Rei threw herself to the ground, flattening herself as best she could. After what had happened to its owner, perhaps the coin was bad luck now, but maybe whoever approached hadn’t spotted her. Whoever _they_ were, she corrected herself, as other horses whinnied in reply.

“Someone’s there! Get ’em!” came a shout from atop the hill.

Rei sprang to her feet and cast a quick glance behind her: a half-dozen riders in piecemeal armor, but they hadn’t bothered to string their bows, or maybe they were just too clumsy to try shooting from horseback. They were bandits, then, not trained knights.

At least she had that going for her.

She rushed past the bushes where she’d hid earlier and coursed toward the cliff, but she couldn’t risk leaving herself open for so long and invite them to take a shot. She peeled away from the path, careening left, her breath burning as she pumped her legs as fast as they would go. _Don’t stop running_ , she told herself over and over again. She had to keep going.

She sprinted into unfamiliar territory, underbrush tearing at her feet and robes. She scanned the ground ahead for any roots or stones that could trip her up and send her sprawling to the earth. Focusing on her path, her fear faded away.

As she found her breath, a rush surged through her limbs. The world seemed to come into greater focus, and she navigated the hazards with ease, almost as if by instinct.

She had no idea where she was or where she was going, but it didn’t matter. Behind her, could still hear the galloping horses and the excited shouts of the bandits. She could lose them in the forest.

Pines embraced her on either side, and she disappeared into the trees. The ground was slick with dropped needles, and she had to be careful. The fallen logs and undergrowth might slow down the horses, at least. She weaved between trunks.

Ahead, the ground fell away into a wide ravine. There was no way that she’d make it, but neither could she stop herself in time. Something inside her told her to jump. She closed her eyes and leaped.

As though buoyed by a gust of wind, she sailed over the gap somehow.

She opened her eyes too late, wasn’t ready for the landing. Pain shot up her leg as she rolled on her ankle.

She urged herself on, heedless of direction, anything to get away from the bandits or lord’s enforcers who might take her head.

Each breath burned its way down her throat and into her chest. She was running out of steam, the edges of her vision blurring from exertion. The focus she’d felt before was fading, fast, as the pain demanded all of her attention and the fear returned.

The ground was still slippery as it sloped downward, suddenly too steep, especially for her ankle. She had to slow down! Her body wouldn’t obey; she was still moving too fast. She tried to catch herself, but she was tripping, falling—and then the world went dark.

* * *

She awoke to a strange, soft wet feeling against her cheek.

Something was licking her. Something with a serious case of bad breath.

She opened an eye and lifted her head to see the creature’s white muzzle, dark nose and eyes, and pointed red ears.

The brushwood dog stopped licking her and stepped back.

Remembering that she’d just been running for her life before she’d had the wind knocked out of her, she craned her neck around, searching for any sign of her pursuers.

But there were no sounds besides those of the forest. She felt at peace, as though the very trees were keeping watch over her.

That’s when she noticed a scroll case was fastened to the dog’s collar. This was no feral stray. He belonged to someone important. A noble, perhaps. Or a monk. Perhaps he’d wandered away from one of the war camps prior to the battle?

She pulled herself up to her knees, wincing as the blood rushed back to her head. She rubbed a temple, finding her balance again. “What’re you doing here, little one?”

The dog tilted its head quizzically.

“You’re not supposed to be here.”

The dog made a whining noise that sounded almost like a protest.

“Neither am I, I suppose,” Rei conceded. She reached out a hand, letting the dog sniff her outstretched palm.

“Don’t worry, I won’t bite—so long as you don’t,” she said playfully. The dog wagged his tail and nuzzled her hand with his head. Somehow, she could tell that the dog had been through a lot.

She stroked the dog’s head, patted its orange-red coat. “You’re quite the beauty, aren’t you? I’ll bet they call you beautiful… Bibishii. But that’s a mouthful. How about just Bibi?”

The dog made an agreeable noise.

“I’m Rei.” _Just Rei,_ she thought, but what did the dog care about her lack of family name?

“Now that we’ve been introduced, who do you belong to? Someone important, yes?” she asked, scratching him under his chin. “We should get you home.” Perhaps his master was offering a hefty reward for his safe return. With that kind of money, Rei wouldn’t have to risk herself scavenging the leavings of war.

Rei rose to her feet with the help of her staff. She still felt uneasy trying to stand.

“But where is home for you? Niimachi?” It was the closest settlement that boasted any wealth at all, and it was the only settlement that had a board for posting bounties, jobs, and other public notices. “If so, you’re a long ways off…”

The dog whined again, a lonely sound.

“Come on.” She patted her thigh. “We’ll go together.” Tomorrow, she would bring the dog to town and see about how much the silver coin was worth. The dog trotted to her side, and they made their way through the forest back toward her camp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Although she probably only knows how to write her name phonetically, the kanji I chose for Rei is 励, which is used to write the verb "to strive" or "to endeavor." It also has associations with diligence and inspiration.
> 
> Bibishii would be written 美美しい and means "beautiful." Bibi (pronounced bee-bee) is just a short form, so it probably wouldn't be written with kanji.
> 
> Chapters featuring solitary characters present their own unique challenges. With its paucity of dialogue, I hope it conveys the sense of loneliness felt by Rey. Of course, that all is about to change!
> 
> Luckily, I'd gotten a few chapters ahead before Ghost of Tsushima came out on Friday. If you are here for the fantastical feudal Japan element, and you like open-world action RPGs such as The Witcher 3 or Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, I highly recommend you check it out (it's for PS4)! The soundtrack is also a great one to listen to while reading A Tale of Shadow and Light.
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think and what you're looking forward to in the comments! Next week, we'll catch up with Ren no Kai at the camp for the shogunate's forces.


	4. Interrogation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At the Shōgun's war camp in Jyakku province, Ren no Kai interrogates his captive in order to discover where Master Suke of Skywalker Temple has hidden himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: Interrogation with mind-reading, allusions to beating. You can skip to the line break to avoid.

A pair of guards hastily bowed to Ren no Kai as he approached, their spears trembling in their tight grips. He should have come to expect the fear, to welcome it as a sign of respect, but after years of icy receptions even from people who called him family, he still always noticed.

Of course they should be afraid of him. As their commander, he had the power to place them on a vanguard or send them on a perilous scouting mission. As a practitioner of the Way of Shadow and Light, he was capable of feats that belonged in legends alongside celestials and demons.

And as the camp’s chief interrogator, he had ways of making people talk.

Behind them, the prisoner knelt, his head drooping forward. His chest shuddered in pain, the twilight casting a sickly purple hue over his papery skin. Dark bruises spread across his legs and back, and there was a bloody stump where his right hand used to be. These injuries wouldn’t kill him quickly, but they were enough to painfully drag out his continued existence.

It was a terrible sight to behold. It seemed like only recently that Tekka had been strong enough to keep up with him and his uncle as they’d searched for lost texts and forgotten lore. Now, he was a shriveled husk of a man.

 _Do not pity him_ , he chided himself. Even if no one could see his face, he had to keep a tight leash on his emotions, lest they get the better of him. “Despite my officers’ best efforts, no one has been able to get you to reveal what you know,” Kai said evenly.

Tekka slowly raised his bald head. His eyes were bloodshot, his lips dark with blood. “That’s because I’ve been waiting… for you,” Tekka managed.

Tekka’s torment was Kai’s doing—there was no denying it. But the needs of the realm justified the suffering of this one man. Kai couldn’t allow himself to fail the Shōgun due to his own weakness.

“You were one of the abbot’s most faithful devotees,” Kai acknowledged. “But that faith is misplaced now. As soon as you tell me where the abbot is hiding, I will end your suffering.”

Tekka seemed to gather his strength, swallowing. “It doesn’t matter whether I tell you or not. Master Shōden no Suke is beyond your reach, Ben.”

“Don’t you dare call me by that name!” As soon as he’d shouted the words, he was keenly aware of how close the guards were, of how the whole encampment would have been able to hear. “That weak, foolish boy is dead,” Kai said more quietly.

“I can feel him. That boy—that compassion and idealism you call weakness and foolishness—survives inside you yet.”

Tekka was wrong. Kai had gone through great lengths to bury—no, destroy—that soft and frightened part of himself. He was the leader of the Knights of Ren and one of the Shōgun’s hand-picked retainers. He was a peerless warrior and a prodigy of the Way. He was the grandson of the first Shōgun, and one day, he would hold that title himself.

“I can feel him, even now. He’s not gone. He never will be.”

“Silence!” Kai commanded.

But Tekka refused to be silenced. “Your uncle, your mother, and presumably your father—they still hold out hope. They wait for you to turn back to the path of justice and mercy.”

“Don’t presume to lecture me, old man!” Kai roared, no longer caring if others could hear. It would feel good to strike Tekka, to choke him with his bare hands, to get him to shut up and spit out what the Shōgun’s forces needed to know.

But if Tekka still held out, if he died before he divulged the truth about the abbot, that would not serve Kai’s purposes in the long run. Kai would not be deterred from his destiny. Kai circled the feeble monk, reining in his anger with each step. He could see now that any more time spent talking would be wasted. Tekka would be defiant until the end.

Yet the Shōgun had taught him ways to break the most resistant of prisoners. “You will tell me. You will yield to me the truth you hide.”

Realization dawned on Tekka, and his lip trembled. “Even if you force me to tell you, even if you were to find him and strike him down, you won’t win. You won’t be able to scare the princess into backing down. The resistance will live on.”

Kai stopped where he stood. For a moment, he could almost feel her holding him tight, like she’d done when he was still smaller than her. That was many, many years ago, before he’d been sent away to Skywalker Temple.

“Would you hurt her, Ben? Your own mother?”

His mother had given up on him long ago. He didn’t want to fight her, but so long as she continued to flout the government’s laws and thwart the Shōgun’s will… “If she forces my hand, if she continues to resist…”

“Have you forsaken all loyalty to your family? Would you turn your back on them in the search of power, cultivating it for its own sake without thinking of how you will use it for the good of the realm?”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Kai disagreed. “All that I do, I do for the realm. I have become powerful so that I can enact my lord’s will. The shogunate will reinstate peace between the clans after generations of war. And now, you will taste a fraction of that power.”

Tekka’s eyes widened in fear as Kai took a step closer and placed his hand on the old monk’s wrinkled forehead. Feeling his old friend trembling beneath him, Kai hesitated.

“If you do not resist, this will not break you,” Kai warned. _Don’t make me hurt you…_

“You see? Although they have twisted you nearly to breaking, there is still some love in your heart. You are not yet past atonement and redemption,” Tekka said, his voice choking on a sob.

That love was weakness, something his enemies could use against him. “I don’t need redeeming,” Kai swore.

He closed his eyes and focused on his breath, his life force, his power.

His power was a net, and he cast it over Tekka’s mind, sinking into the pool of the old man’s consciousness. Glimpses of Tekka’s memories, of the times they’d spent together when Kai has been a boy, threatened to snag his net, but Kai had committed himself to his duty, bracing himself against such sentimentalities. He sifted through his catch, examining each flicker of thought, until he found what he was looking for. Master Shōden no Suke. Now, he had only to follow that thought to its source, to the wellspring of memories.

Their distant voices grew closer. A conversation with the abbot from long ago, before Kai had escaped his training at the temple. In hushed tones, Master Suke and Tekka spoke of disagreements with the fledgling Emperor and his newly convened court, of contingencies and escape plans. Even then—fresh from their victories against the old Shōgun, Master Suke’s own father and Kai’s grandfather—Suke and Tekka did not expect peace to last.

_If the worst should come to pass, you should take shelter on Akuto Island…_

“So… Akuto Island is where he’s hiding. But… there’s something more.”

The old man’s discipline hardened like ice, trying to keep Kai from plumbing deeper. But what was solid could be broken. Kai gathered his power and his will into a spearpoint. He plunged through Tekka’s mental defenses, knowing full well that in doing so, he would forever shatter the man’s mind.

A vision of the island came to him, as seen from a shore that Tekka himself had visited long ago. Tekka had learned that Akuto was guarded by wind spirits who would turn away even the most intrepid of sailors. Only using the proper incantations could the wind spirits be calmed long enough for a ship to make it to the island’s shores. That was why he’d recommended the island to Suke.

“Where is the spell you are protecting?” Kai hissed.

Tekka only whimpered in response.

He plunged deeper into the recesses of the old man’s mind, diving down into his most guarded memories. Flickering images came into focus. “I can sense it. A scroll case. A small creature—an orange-red brushwood dog. You’ve hidden the incantation on the dog’s collar.”

As Kai withdrew his hand, desperate tears filled Tekka’s eyes.

“So that’s how you planned to thwart me.”

The old man tried to speak, but he couldn’t get his tongue around the words. Confusion swam in his eyes. Only one word stood out among the gibberish: “Ben…” 

Kai couldn’t take it anymore. He unsheathed his sword and brought it down on the old man’s neck. The old man’s bald head rolled lifelessly onto the ground.

It was the swift end he’d deserved. Now he was finally released from the suffering of this world.

“Burn the body,” Kai instructed the guards as he left for the command tent. “And prepare his ashes for me.” He would not leave his old friend to be picked apart by crows, and he would give him a proper funeral when there was time.

* * *

Ren no Kai barely noticed the evening bustle of the war camp around him. Instead, he saw the look in Tekka’s eyes as Kai ended his life, the scene unfolding before him over and over again. Tekka’s last, garbled words still echoed in his mind. _“Ben…”_

He needed to breathe, to calm his mind and center himself again, but there was no time to lose. He pushed the tent flap side and entered. General Harada and the others went silent at his approach.

It was tempting to cast his net out again, to scan their thoughts for any hint of treachery, but he needed their cooperation, not their alarm. Few of them understood the mysteries of the occult arts, and so they regarded him with wary eyes, but they all knew that Kai could unleash devastating power when he was roused.

“We are looking for a brushwood dog with an orange-red coat and a scroll case on its collar,” Kai said. He could tell they wanted to laugh at him. It sounded absurd, even coming from his own lips. “Tekka knew that his and the villagers’ lives would be forfeit, so he hid the secret to the abbot’s hiding spot in a scroll, so that not even he could give it up. But if we find the dog, we will find the way to Akuto Island and the abbot of Skywalker Temple.”

And then, he would finally be able to confront the man who’d tried to take his life.

In theory, it was simple. In practice, finding the dog could be difficult, even if he employed divination. Living creatures tended to move even after one was able to successfully scry their location.

“Well then,” said General Harada. “Shall I order my troops to round up every last dog in Jyakku province?”

The young general’s flippant tone was a subtle insult to Kai’s authority, which Kai had come to expect from the young general. Harada was much less subtle about his ambitions. Harada Amitage was part of the Shōgun’s extended family and eager to stand out, which made him a liability to their mission. Although he zealously served the shogunate, competency was not Harada’s strong suit.

“That might not be necessary,” Captain Kasutama cut in, her eyes alight. “I saw such a creature, but I did not ride close enough to see whether it had a scroll case on his collar.”

“A pity,” the general said dismissively.

The knight seemed to be on the verge of remembering something, and when she did, a smug grin grew across her face. “As a matter of fact, there was one soldier who would have been close enough to see.”

At least he could rely on the one they called the Phantom. “Summon him.”

“Of course, young lord.” Captain Kasutama exited with a bow.

General Harada barely concealed his jealousy as he watched her leave.

He stared down at the map of the realm and the locations of the Shōgun’s armies.

 _“Ben…”_ Tekka’s raspy voice echoed in his mind again. Kai watched as the old man’s head fall to the ground once again. “Ben,” came another voice, more loudly. This time, it belonged to his mother.

Kai clenched his fist and shielded his mind. He would not fall to their trickery. He did not need to be redeemed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was hard to write, especially when trying to balance a redeemable Ben Solo against a monstrous Kylo Ren, but I think that's the point. It'll probably be one of the darker chapters of the whole book, but it's important characterization for later.
> 
> In next week's chapter, we'll catch up to Finn aka Tokirō as he uncovers a resistance spy in the war camp...


	5. Hitoshi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tokirō, a mere foot soldier, learns the true significance of the brushwood dog and uncovers a resistance spy in Ren no Kai's war camp.

It was just his luck. Because he’d been caught dawdling at the village, Lieutenant Samon assigned him to firewood duty—a task befitting a servant, not a soldier. It was exactly the kind of work Tokirō had left his village to avoid.

The firewood cart was heavy and in desperately in need of repair. Hauling it around camp to refill the stockpiles of wood and feed the braziers would have been a trying task even without the mud that somehow always followed the contingent. His arms and legs ached, and he was still too hot from a day of chopping wood. Meanwhile, the rest of his unit ate and drank and mended their equipment.

Maybe it was a blessing in disguise. He hadn’t been hungry since the previous night, and the last thing he wanted to do right now was pretend as though what had happened at the village was just part of their job. As though what the rest of them had done—what he’d sat by and watched them do—hadn’t been wrong.

Later tonight, after he finished with the firewood, when only the night shift guards were awake, he’d make a break for it.

He just couldn’t stick around long enough to watch them burn the next village of defenseless peasants.

What was next for him? He didn’t know.

He’d thought he could make a name for himself—make _something_ of himself—by becoming a solider and rising up the ranks. At least then he’d be more than an orphaned farm boy, anyway. Boy, was he wrong.

Was there any work he was actually cut out for? Something he could actually devote himself to? He was too young to retire to a temple. There, he’d be chopping wood and carrying water for the rest of his days for sure.

But at least it wouldn’t be chopping wood for soldiers.

The sound of footsteps snapped him out of his thoughts. He ducked behind the cart just in time. The camp’s commander, unmistakable in his black-and-silver mask and heavy armor, strode into the command tent. The knight’s shoulders were tense with anger, and in the light of the brazier, a spray of something dark and wet glistened on his armor.

Maybe it was blood. Blood from the prisoner. A shiver went down Tokirō’s spine.

Tokirō was close enough to overhear the commander when he said, “We are looking for a brushwood dog with a scroll case on its collar.”

 _They… what?_ Tokirō asked himself. He moved closer to try to hear them better, pulling the cart behind him, trying to be gentle with it so that half the cartload wouldn’t fall off, like it had so many times already tonight.

The voice continued. “Tekka knew that his and the villagers’ lives would be forfeit, so he hid the secret to the abbot’s hiding spot in a scroll, so that not even he could give it up. But if we find the dog, we will find the way to Akuto Island and the abbot of Skywalker Temple.”

Most of those names were unfamiliar to Tokirō, but there was one place he did recognize: Skywalker Temple, the legendary training grounds for the mystical warrior monks called Jedai. The rebel lords were looking for the last of the Jedai too, or so everyone thought, based on what they’d overheard from the Shōgun’s knights.

He’d had a feeling that dog could be important, but… this was something else. If he found the dog before the commander’s forces did and brought him to the resistance, they’d reward him handsomely. He’d have enough money to get away from these wars for good. It might even be enough to book passage to the mainland and start a new life there.

“Well then,” said a voice. “Shall I order my troops to round up every last dog in Jyakku province?”

He winced. Whoever was speaking, they had a point. Tokirō had little to no chance of running into the dog again. It had already been a whole day since he’d last set eyes on the dog. He could be anywhere by now.

“That might not be necessary,” a woman said eagerly.

Not just any woman, but the Phantom, Tokirō was pretty sure. His stomach dropped. _Please don’t remember me, he prayed._

“I saw such a creature, but I did not ride close enough to see whether it had a scroll case on his collar.”

“A pity.”

“As a matter of fact, there was one soldier who would have been close enough to see.”

_Oh no._

“Summon him.”

It was now or never. He had to get away.

“Of course, young lord.”

Tokirō looked around for any sign of guards before creeping away from the cart of firewood. Before he turned the corner around the war curtain, he straightened, pretending to report to watch duty as he marched away from the command tent as quickly as he could.

_Stay cool, act normal. Don’t let them see that you’re totally terrified._

He had only a few minutes before the Phantom made it to Lieutenant Samon, who would stake out the main pile of firewood to await Tokirō’s return with the cart. And when he didn’t… of if the Phantom didn’t have that kind of patience… they would begin searching for him.

As it was, he would have a hard time leaving the camp unseen. No, not hard—practically impossible. The foot soldiers guarding the entryways into the camp would suspect him of deserting if he tried to leave now. Well, they wouldn’t be wrong.

Only one part of camp regularly let people in as well as out. It was where their supply train camped. Sometimes, local merchants would come and try to sell their wares, but usually, the selling part didn’t go so well for them. On behalf of the government, the Shōgun could requisition anything he needed, and what merchant could refuse at spear- and gunpoint?

He tried to stay casual and walk with purpose, but it was less and less likely that he’d be seen as “reporting for duty” in and around the supply wagons and the pack animals. Once again making sure he wouldn’t attract notice, he ducked down and hid behind a collection of rice barrels.

_Alrighty, time to make a plan. You can do this._

Slowly, Tokirō rose to peek over the top of the rice barrels to try to survey the gate. It was crawling with guards.

_I can’t do this._

Tokirō rubbed his hands over his face, letting out a deep breath.

He _had_ to do this. He had no other choice.

He peered toward the gate again, this time looking long enough to see a handful of laborers unloading sake barrels from a merchant’s horse-drawn cart. Based on the expression on the merchant’s face, he seemed to be on the wrong end of the deal.

Tokirō closed his eyes. _Think, Tokirō. How are you going to stow away into that cart without being seen?_

When he reopened his eyes, he saw that he wasn’t the only one sneaking around the supplies.

The man was of average height but strong build, with a head of messy dark hair and a face rugged with stubble. He was shrugging off a fine silk coat that befitted a merchant and exchanging the colorful belt around his waist for something that better suited a laborer of some kind. His eyes were full of purpose as he cautiously made his way toward the center of the camp.

Could this man be a spy, send by the rebel lords to infiltrate the enemy camp?

Tokirō’s heart surged, and his limbs brimmed with anxious energy. The resistance had come to _him_ , somehow.

He remembered the dog. The spy needed to know about the brushwood dog. Maybe then Tokirō could help clear some of his conscience. Could even help the resistance.

 _Hold on a second, Tokirō_ , he thought, trying to reason with himself. He had no way to know if this guy was really a spy or if there was something else going on.

But he didn’t have time to decide. His eyes met the man’s. They held each other’s gaze for a long moment.

_Shit._

The spy darted out of sight. Tokirō couldn’t lose him, not when the man might be his only way out of this camp.

Behind him, he could hear the squish of sandals in the mud along with the telltale creaking of armor. Whoever he was, the man was about to be discovered.

Tokirō hurried after the spy, staying low and hidden behind stacks of crates and other supplies. He had to get to the spy before the soldiers did—and before the soldiers caught Tokirō.

A hand appeared out of nowhere and pulled him back, out of view of the guards. He tumbled backward, crashing into a man’s warm chest as cold metal pressed against his neck.

“Woah woah woah,” Tokirō protested, trying to pull the knife away from his throat. “I’m not your enemy!” As he spoke, the blade seemed to dig in deeper, almost drawing blood.

“Quiet, fool!” hissed a voice in his ear.

Tokirō obeyed. He could feel both their hearts pounding as they waited, letting the guards pass them by. The arms of the man holding him were strong, brushed with dark hair, and taut with lean muscle. He smelled of musk and spice and wood, mixed with sweat and earth.

Somehow, Tokirō felt safe with this man’s arms around him, not endangered.

One of the soldiers slipped, cursed. Something fell into the mud limply.

“Be careful with the old man’s body!” someone snapped.

“Why bother?” came a disgruntled reply. “The commander said to burn ’im. Who cares if he gets a little dirty in the meantime?”

“If you’re disrespectful, the old man’s spirit might stick around to curse you.”

The knife trembled against Tokirō’s throat. Despite himself, the man holding him whispered, “No! It can’t be.”

The man lowered the knife and tried to peer around the crates to see.

“Are you really that superstitious?” the guard asked, picking up the body.

“Sure, call it that, but whatever it is the commander can do to make folks talk is real. Spells, curses, the whole lot of it. This old man was a monk or something—maybe he can do witchcraft too.”

“Tekka…” the spy said softly, pleading.

When the guards’ voices faded, Tokirō asked as quietly as he could, “You knew him? You knew the prisoner?”

The man didn’t answer.

“You were looking for him, weren’t you?”

“Gimme a good reason not to end you right here and now,” the spy said, his voice low and raw and threatening.

“Because I’m done with the Shogunate. And I know that guy you call Tekka hid something in a scroll case—something to do with the abbot of Skywalker temple—in a brushwood dog’s collar.”

At that, the man finally let Tokirō go. Tokirō turned around so that he could look the man in the eyes. His brown eyes were dark with disbelief, but there was a glimmer of hope there, too.

“That’s one helluva story. How do you know this?”

“I overheard the commanders talking while I was on firewood duty just now. They’re looking for a brushwood dog with a scroll case on his collar. Well, and me, too. I was the last one to see the dog, at the village not far from here. The little guy got away—barely—from the massacre.”

“I saw the aftermath,” the man said, anger and sadness welling up in his eyes.

“That’s why I gotta get outta here. What they did to the village… it’s not right. I can’t be a part of that. I won’t help the Shogunate hurt people. So please, take me with you. Let me help you look for him.”

The man looked him up and down, trying to appraise the kind of man he was. He didn’t seem impressed. “And how do I know you’re not some sort of double agent?”

“Would a double agent be caught sneaking—unsuccessfully—around the supply train?”

“Probably not…” the man reasoned. “And you’d be trying to get me to lead you back to the resistance hideout, not helping me chase after a dog. All right. What’s your name, kid?”

“Kino Toki—” he stopped himself. He’d been calling himself that ever since he enlisted, but it wasn’t a real name. It was something he’d made up to sound important, like he actually had a family name. “It’s Hitoshi.”

“Hitoshi, eh? I’m Zheng Po. But most just call me Po.”

“With a name like that, are you from the mainland?” Hitoshi asked, unable to contain his excitement and curiosity.

“Yeah, well, let’s just say I’ve seen my fair share of the sea. C’mon. I gotta get back to my disguise.”

Hitoshi nodded and followed as quietly as he could.

“Getting in was one thing, but getting out with you will be another. Any ideas?”

“I was trying to come up with one when I saw you.”

“Yeah, definitely not a double agent.” Po chuckled. “Okay. We can’t hide you, but you can pretend like you’re escorting me back to the cart.”

“What about the other merchant?”

“That’s Snap. He’s with me. He’ll know how to play along, and he can handle himself if things go sideways, which they usually do. He’ll follow our lead once he sees what’s going on.”

Hitoshi gulped. “‘Usually’?” 

“I’ll cause a distraction, and that’s when we high-tail it outta here on the horses.”

Hitoshi must have blanched, because Po have him a look. “You do know how to ride, right?”

“I, well...”

“Will you fall off a horse if I put you on one?”

“I, uh, can’t promise…”

“Shit. Well, just hold on tight, okay?”

“I can do better than that, if I can get a half-bow.”

“Good. I’ve got one stowed along the side of the cart. Grab it before we make a run for it.”

“Will do.”

The pair picked their way through the piles of supplies until they could get a better look at the guard situation at the entrance.

Po explained, “They’ve got a couple of archers facing our getaway route, but we’ll be too fast for the matchlock gunners to load their weapons if they aren’t loaded already. And the same curtains they use to keep their camp’s light hidden means that they won’t be able to see well past a couple dozen paces. Once we leave the cart behind, we’ll be pretty fast.”

“Will _we_ be able to see out there?”

“Not necessarily, but the horses will.”

“Great.”

Po placed a reassuring hand on Hitoshi’s shoulder. “I just need you to provide us some cover. Leave the rest to me.” Po made it sound like he was certain their crazy plan would work somehow.

Hitoshi nodded. “All right. Let’s do this.”

* * *

“Whooo!” Hitoshi shouted, pumping a triumphant fist in the air and almost losing his balance on the galloping horse in the process.

“Careful!” Po warned playfully, then turned back to smile at Hitoshi. “Those were some nice shots, but I can’t believe you didn’t fall off!”

“I can’t believe that _worked_!” Catching his breath, Hitoshi slung the half-bow over his shoulder and wrapped his arms tightly around Po’s middle. He didn’t need any more close calls.

“Me neither,” Snap answered from atop the other horse. “Captain, what were you _thinking_ , bringing this soldier guy with us?”

“I was thinking that this guy is our last best hope. He’s seen what the resistance is looking for.”

“And what’s that?”

“Tekka hid the spell leading to Master Suke in a scroll case on a brushwood dog,” Hitoshi explained. “We gotta find him before the Shogunate’s forces do.”

“We’re looking for a _dog_?” Snap asked, incredulous. “And how do you expect to track a dog through the wilderness?”

“We’ll figure out a way,” Po assured him. “Just like we always have.”

“As you say, captain,” Snap sighed, shaking his head. “Where are we headed?”

“Back to Niimachi,” Po explained. “We’ll lay low there for a bit and then gather some information. Hopefully, the Shogunate’s forces don’t think to search there, but if they do, we’ll take to the river. With any luck, the dog has run into someone who thought to take it to the closest place where they might be rewarded for finding its owner.”

“You’ve got a ship?” Hitoshi asked.

“That’s why they call me captain.”

Hitoshi nodded eagerly. “To Niimachi, then.”


	6. Rei at Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rei returns to her secret hut in the forest with Bibi at her heels. But the contents of the scroll case call to her, whispering on the wind...

That evening, the cicada’s song keened louder than usual as she returned to her hut with water from the spring. Walking the trail by heart, Rei could turn her attention to the different melodies of the forest: the gentle flutter of bats, the creaking of ancient branches, the distant cry of the fox.

Bibi followed close behind on her heels. The brushwood dog hadn’t left her side since she’d found him—or rather, since he’d found her—earlier that day. He must’ve been trained well, as he looked to her for cues, waiting to bark or react to a creature until after he’d seen how Rei reacted. His presence soon became a comfort—something else to lean on beside her staff. The peril of potentially encountering a bear or boar or wolf did not loom so large in her mind as it had the day before.

Despite how well behaved he was, she still worried that he might lose the scroll case if he did dart after a squirrel or bird, so she’d unclipped it and stowed in her robe. Unlike other items she’d pocketed, like the dagger and the coin, she hadn’t stopped noticing the scroll case.

At times, it almost seemed to hum, resonating like a singing bowl. When that happened, she could almost hear whispering voices on the wind.

She assured herself it was still just her overactive imagination. She didn’t want to contemplate the possibility that the ghost of the fallen knight from the battlefield was following her. Or that she’d attracted the notice of some other spirits.

A rest would do her good, she told herself. She’d had a long and frightful day, and it would be good to be under a roof again, no matter how flimsy.

The familiar moss and ferns that blanketed the roof of the hermit hut had turned a violet hue in the fading light. She’d repaired what leaks she’d been able to, but the greenery seemed to serve as the forest’s claim on the trespassing structure, so she’d left it alone. The growth also served as a sort of camouflage, which she welcomed. After a few less-than-pleasant encounters in the villages, she didn’t desire unexpected visits from strangers, nor did she want Boss Uenka or his crew to know where she spent her nights.

During the summer, she didn’t bother with the sliding doors, which were as like to catch in the track as not, and made a lot of noise besides. Instead, she pushed aside the frayed cloth that served as a curtain and held it open for Bibi to enter. “Go on,” she encouraged him. He sniffed once, twice, and then padded his way inside. Rei followed, ducking beneath the curtain.

She set her staff and the bucket of water aside before crouching in front of the hearth to light a small fire. Once or twice, she glanced over to see what Bibi was up to as he sniffed his way through the hut, getting a feel for the new territory. After she finally got the fire going, she poured the water into the kettle to boil.

This time, when she looked at Bibi, she spotted him pawing at some of her collections of scavenged goods and sticking his nose in where it didn’t belong. “Hey! Leave those.”

Bibi obeyed, although not without a whimper.

“Patience. I’ll figure out something for you to eat in a moment.”

But what would Bibi find appetizing? Because she’d gone out scavenging the battlefield instead of foraging the forest, she hadn’t set any traps, so she didn’t have any fresh small game to offer.

She had some dried herbs and mushrooms and bamboo shoots on hand, which she often used to make herself a thin soup along with a salad of edible plants, but she mainly relied on millet and barley gruel to fill her belly, which she received as pay in exchange for doing odd jobs for Uenka.

“What do you think, hm? Do you like these?” She offered a couple of different items to Bibi to let him sniff and decide for himself, but nothing seemed to appear appetizing to the dog. “Or are you only interested in meat?”

Bibi didn’t answer. Perhaps the dog simply wasn’t hungry. “We’ll figure something out. Maybe tomorrow you can catch something on our way to Niimachi. If nothing else, we’ll be able to trade for some food for you there.”

She scratched the pup behind an ear, which sent his tail wagging. She asked him to lay down, which he knew how to do, and then asked him to stay while she went about making herself something that would pass for dinner.

After she’d finished eating, she put away her sole bowl and set of chopsticks and pulled out the silver coin she’d found. She turned the coin over in her fingers, tracing the intricate designs, as if that would somehow allow her to make sense of them. Perhaps it was still good luck after all. She’d gotten away from the bandits, and her flight had led her to Bibi, who was welcome company despite his curiosity.

As much as she could use the luck, she needed the money more. She wasn’t even sure that Uenka would give her a fair rate for it—it seemed strange enough that it might fetch a higher price if she found a buyer who recognized its true value—whatever that was.

That’s when she heard the clatter of something falling.

“Bibi!” she shouted, and whirled around to catch Bibi backing away from the pile of snares and traps, which was now partially collapsed and tangled. “Bad dog!”

The dog whimpered, as if to apologize, and he flattened his ears in fear. His big dark eyes reflected the flickering firelight, which made them almost seem tearful. It was impossible to stay mad at the dog for more than a moment when he looked like that.

“It’s okay,” Rei said, beckoning him back over and stroking his fur. “I’m not going to turn you out. I won’t abandon you.”

She let out a heavy sigh. Rei’s parents hadn’t abandoned her, surely. It was only an accident. They’d been separated, somehow. She’d gotten lost.

How many years had it been? She looked up at one of the walls, which she’d covered in tally marks to mark the days. At least a dozen, which meant she was already nineteen…

Old enough to be someone’s wife, Uenka had reminded her with increasing frequency. ‘If I could fetch a price selling you to one of the villagers, I would, but it seems no one’s interested in a feral, mountain-dwelling waif.’

That suited her just as well, thank you very much. But she’d noticed the ways some of his gang had begun to look at her. If they couldn’t pawn her off, they might try something with her themselves, if they got desperate. That was part of the reason why she was training herself with the staff. The bears and board and wolves weren’t the only wild animals she might have to defend herself against.

As she continued petting Bibi to calm him down, the feel of his collar reminded her of the scroll, which she’d almost been able to forget while busying herself with their meal, but now that she thought of it, it began to hum again, and she slowly withdrew it from her robe.

She wondered kind of message it contained, or if it was something she’d even be able to read. She’d learned over the years that scholars and nobles had their own script, and hidden in one of the floorboards in this very hut was a collection of papers with characters that were indecipherable to her. She hadn’t brought herself to use the moldering paper as kindling—yet—though it had little other use to her. And she didn’t dare bring it to Uenka, in case it gave away where she was hiding somehow.

But if she could read the scroll’s contents, that might help her locate Bibi’s owner. And if she couldn’t read it, well, that was its own clue.

She opened the case with a small pop and unfurled the scroll, holding her breath in anticipation.

Immediately, the words jumped out at her, very nearly rising off the surface of the textured paper. She hadn’t had the chance to practice her letters often, but her understanding came rushing back. As her eyes deciphered each character, the brushstrokes themselves seemed to throb with energy, and she found herself speaking the words aloud without meaning to.

“Oh mighty winds, guardians of this bay,

“Bow down to the earth, bow down to the sky.

“Permit this pilgrim to pass without delay.

“As day turns to night, shadow into light,

“Be at peace, for this is the Way.”

Something shifted deep within her being, as though a door were opening. That door had been kept tightly shut, as though to guard something—or keep something in. But now that it was open, a wave of emotions came surging to the surface.

What if her parents never returned? What if she had been a bad daughter, and they’d _meant_ to abandon her here?

Yet, what could a child have done that was so bad as to deserve this? What if they’d left because of their own selfishness and irresponsibility? How dare they. How _dare_ they do such a thing to a mere child.

What they’d done was terrible. She hated them. She hated her parents for leaving her all alone.

Because of them, most of her life had been waiting. Wondering. Despairing.

Fear, anger, hatred, suffering—she’d buried these feelings deep, hardening her heart to avoid having it broken day after day. But now these emotions flared inside her.

She read the words again, desperate to understand what they were doing to her, why she was having so strong a reaction. The true meaning of these words was just out of reach, but she knew it was important.

_The shadow, the light… day and night…_

_Opposites… at peace… in balance… becoming whole…_

But she was not whole. Part of her was missing. All of the loneliness of the past dozen years… The meager meals taken alone. The pain of teaching oneself without a guiding hand. The many seasons that came and went without remark. A shooting star sighted with no one to share in the wonder. They weighed on her, weighed on her very being, and her heart _hurt_.

It didn’t matter whether she’d been bad or if her parents simply hadn’t cared. Either way, she wasn’t worth it to them to stay. She wasn’t worthy of being loved.

Tears stung her eyes, and the scroll dropped from her fingers.

Her knees went weak, and she collapsed on the floor.

“Mom… dad…” she whispered, sobbing, shivering. “Where are you?”

They were gone, a part of her knew. And they were never coming back.

But she couldn’t give up hope… for without hope, what did she have left? What had she survived all these long years for? What was there to look forward to?

A soft wet nose nuzzled her, bringing her back to herself, to her home in the abandoned cart.

She tried to catch her breath. With a deep breath, and then another, she breathed in calm. Serenity. Peace.

“Bibi, I…”

For now, she had this dog to take care of. She had this… this incantation, this prayer, which had only become more mysterious than when she first spotted it affixed to Bibi’s collar. Perhaps she could meet the person the scroll belonged to, and they could explain what had happened to her when she read it, why it made her feel as though she were truly awakening to her life for the first time.

For now, that had to be enough to keep her going.

Perhaps this was a sign. A sign that she needed to leave the valley in order to search for her parents. Twelve years was long enough to wait. She was old enough to go out into the world and find her own way. Maybe she would even find what she was looking for. If not her parents, then something else to fill the void that was her loneliness.

“Come here, Bibi…” she said, and drew Bibi close to her. For the first time she could remember, she curled up against another living being. Bibi was warm, his fur soft, and the way his side moved up and down with his breath was a comfort.

The ache in her heart became bearable again.

“Tomorrow…” she whispered, “is a new day. A new chance.”

She gently stroked the top of his head and snout until she slipped into a fitful sleep.

That night, she dreamed of clashing blades, of tall flames rising into the night, of seven dark silhouettes looming over her. And a man, his face obscured by a dark helm, reaching a hand out toward her, beckoning her to his side.


	7. Captain Kasutama's Report

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Captain Kasutama delivers bad news to Ren no Kai and General Harada. And when Ren is finally alone, he is confronted by the pain of his solitude...

Captain Kasutama should have returned with the soldier in question long ago. In the meantime, Ren no Kai could do nothing but wait while someone else pursued the only lead they had on finding Master Suke. It was always a risk to rely on someone else, and the more the minutes passed, the more likely that something had gone wrong.

Unable to concentrate on the war map, Kai took to pacing. Every so often, General Harada looked up, as if passing some new personal judgment against Kai. Kai didn’t have to read the man’s mind to know that Harada believed Kai was an upstart, a lowborn imposter who lacked sufficient breeding to serve so highly in the Shōgun’s court. When Harada though Kai was out of earshot, he said it was the common stock from Kai’s father’s side that explained why he could not control his emotions or act with proper decorum, just as he could not stand still now. Yet the general was too cowardly to level insults at Kai directly, and he was too stupid to realize that Kai’s enhanced senses meant he could hear what others could not. The general had only his silent grievances to console himself against the knowledge that he couldn’t harness even a scrap of the power that was at Kai’s fingertips.

Although the general still made a show of looking over the war map, there was no way he was drawing any new insights from the continued scrutiny. And besides, they weren’t trying to outflank an army. They were chasing after a single dog, as ludicrous as that sounded.

Kai should have gone with the Phantom. At least then, we would not have been forced to suffer General Harada’s extended presence while the voices continued to torment him.

First it was Tekka’s voice, then his mother’s, and then even Master Suke’s. There was no way they were actually speaking to him from across the realm, much less from beyond the grave. Their voices were only Kai’s memories of them, manifestations of his longing for the times when he did not have so much responsibility weighing down on him. For a time when he did not feel so alone. But he had always felt at least partially alone, hadn’t he?

Except for the spirit who had haunted him since birth. It was the ghost’s whispers that finally silenced the others’ voices. _Remember, Ren no Kai. They already made their choice. First, they tried to cast you out, and when that did not work, they tried to kill you. Tekka’s words were not said out of care for you, but to try to turn you. He knows how much it would help the resistance if he could deprive their adversary, the Shōgun, of one of his greatest warriors._

The ghost was right. Kai had grown more powerful than any of them could have possibly imagined. When finally he got his chance to confront Suke, he would prove it.

 _It is your destiny_ , the ghost reminded him.

He couldn’t fail now, not after he’d actually managed to find Tekka and extract his secrets. He was _so close_. If his lead evaporated now…

He could not even contemplate returning to the Shōgun as a failure. If he had to, he would summon his knights—all of them. Takeshi the Reaper, Kādo the Gunslinger, Usaru the Sadist, Shingen the Collector, Kuruku the Eagle-Eyed, and Akurei the Deceiver—together, they would pursue the brushwood dog across the countryside. They would burn down everything until there was nowhere for him to hide. Kai would not return to the capital until he had Master Suke in tow.

 _I will prevail_ , he swore to himself.

At that moment, shouts went up in the distance, and someone started to pound on one of the bells, summoning the soldiers to their posts.

Kai’s heart raced. For the alarm to sound now…

New light poured into the tent as the flap opened and Captain Kasutama marched forward, fire blazing hot in her eyes. “There’s been an escape.”

“What!?” General Harada almost screeched.

“The soldier’s missing. We suspect he is trying to desert.”

Unbelievable! Kai slammed his fist into one of the nearby cabinets. First the monk, then the dog, and now, this soldier. It was as though the universe itself was conspiring against him…

Kai’s eyes widened. It wasn’t impossible. Master Suke could be exerting his influence upon the Way, even from his hermitage on Akuto Island. If he was, then clearly this was a last-ditch, desperate attempt at distraction. Kai was so close.

“General, it seems your forces allowed the soldier to get away,” the captain announced, almost as if she were pleased to give the report. As a knight, she didn’t have to look after the common soldiery—that task lay to General Harada’s officers. And Kai suspected that she, too, found Harada’s haughtiness insufferable. “But if they cannot pick up their trail…”

“How capable are your soldiers as trackers, general?” Kai asked. He had to know if he could truly rely on Harada’s troops.

“Are you questioning their skills, your lordship?” Harada countered.

Kai couldn’t’ help himself. “They’re obviously skilled at turning traitor. Perhaps the Shōgun should consider using one of General Iji’s armies.” General Iji was one of the Shōgun’s most famous retainers, the kind of general who had earned the kind of glory and prestige on the battlefield that Harada dreamed of.

General Harada gaped, stunned at Kai’s brazen insult and challenge. He scrambled to save face, straightening like a board and raising his chin. “The soldiers of the Harada clan are exceptionally trained. Through our strict regiments of discipline, we forge our conscripts into steel—”

“Then they should have no problem finding the soldier as well as the dog—or the scroll case he carries,” Kai cut him off before he could continue blabbering. “I must have the spell that can undo Master Suke’s protection. For your sake, I hope you find it soon.”

With that, he left General Harada and Captain Kasutama behind. As much as Kai wanted to join in looking the soldier and the dog, he had to concede that he was only one man, and they could cover more ground faster if they poured more manpower into the search. His powers would be better served opposing Master Suke’s efforts at manipulating events from afar, and even then, he would have the greatest success if we waited until morning. Night was the time when Shadow’s power was at its peak, and the hidden belonged to the domain of Shadow. Come the day, the power of Light would reveal the hidden, and Kai’s divination could be its most accurate.

For now, the best he could do was rest and prepare himself for an intensive working tomorrow. He would leave General Harada alone to demonstrate his worth—or his ineptitude.

* * *

Once he’d returned to his private tent, he pried off his helmet and nearly threw it across the room. He stripped out of his armor and robes—still sticky and wet with Tekka’s blood—until he wore nothing save for his loincloth. For a moment, he allowed himself to relish the feel of the air on his bare skin, but then, in the flickering lamplight, he noticed the blood smeared across his arms and legs. He grabbed the bucket of water that had been left in his tent as well as a washcloth and scrubbed his skin until it felt raw and he felt clean again. He finished drying himself and slipped into a simple cotton robe before finally sinking onto his knees. His thoughts quickly caught up to him.

This mission put his position in jeopardy. The longer it took for him to prove himself to the Shōgun, the less likely he would be named heir. The longer Master Suke remained free, the longer he would inspire the rebel lords to resist the Shōgun’s authority.

And the more likely he would indeed have to confront his mother on the battlefield.

He needed to steady himself, and now, at last, he had the privacy and the time. A servant brought him hot rice, salted fish, and pickled vegetables for dinner, which he quickly scarfed down. The servant returned only briefly to collect his dishes, and then he was alone again.

He should have been used to the feeling by now, but somehow, the ache had only grown keener over the events of the last day. Now, it felt like a steady throb. He’d killed a part of himself when he’d been forced to slay Tekka, and there was no one in the camp who could help fill that void. Captain Kasutama was no companion of his, and General Harada’s company was more than unpleasant. Even when he traveled with them, the Knights of Ren weren’t truly friends of his—they were comrades-in-arms, but not confidantes he could share his worries with. If anything, Kai had to be stronger in front of them, lest he lose their respect. And the women at the Shōgun’s court had feared and desired him in equal measure. He had not loved any of them, although they had occasionally given him some momentary pleasure.

Although the ghost was always there, in the back of his mind, it was no comfort.

It was as though part of him was missing, and he would never feel right without it. At the age of twenty-nine, he should have consigned himself to this loneliness by now. But for some reason, he could not.

At least when he was not awake, the pain of his solitude subsided for a time. He lay down on bedroll and, after many hours of circling back to his worries again and again, fell into a light slumber.

He dreamed of the future, when he would finally sit upon the dais of the audience chamber as Shōgun. The six Knights of Ren flanked him on either side, but he knew he would need to train an apprentice of his own, someone who wielded enough power to serve as his chief enforcer, perhaps even the new leader of the Knights. Before him, a woman stood just out of reach, her back toward him, her shoulders squared defiantly as her white robes fluttered in the wind. Slowly, she began to turn her head, but before he could see her face, his shadow crossed over her, darkening her robes.

He reached out with a hand to beckon her to his side, but he woke before he could see her answer.


End file.
